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PHILIP 


F  R  E  N  E  A  U 


SOME     ACCOUNT 

of    t he 

CAPTURE    OF    THE 

SHIP    "AURORA" 


BY 


PHILIP  FRENEAU 


M.  F.  MANSFIELD  &  A.  VESSELS 
NEW  YORK 


Copyright 

i899 

By  M.  P.  Mansfield  <5r*  A.  Wessels 


CONTENTS 


PACK 


Introduction,  ......      7 

Some  Account  of  the  Capture,  .          .          .    1 5 


Agnes  Watson 

Mother  of  Philip  Freneau 


/  N  r  R  o  D  u  c  r  i  o  N 

The  following  account  of  the  capture  of  the  ship 
Aurora  was  written  by  Philip  Freneau,  the  "  Poet  of  the 
Revolution,"  at  his  Mount  Pleasant  home,  July  14,  1780, 
two  days  after  his  release  from  the  British  Hospital  Ship 
Hunter. 

The  poet  was  then  in  his  twenty-eighth  year,  and  for 
so  young  a  man  his  career  had  been  exciting  and  varied. 
He  was  born  in  Frankfort  Street,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
January  2,  1752.  The  family  was  of  French  Huguenot 
descent,  and  with  the  Pintards,  Jays,  Delanceys,  and  many 
other  prominent  Huguenots  who  sought  refuge  in  this  coun 
try  from  the  religious  and  civil  persecutions  consequent 
upon  the  Revocation  by  Louis  XIV.  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  founded  the  old  St.  Esprit  Church  on  Pine  Street, 
New  York  City,  which  was  long  the  centre  of  Huguenot 
influence  on  this  continent. 

His  father,  Pierre  Freneau,  married  Agnes  Watson,  of 
the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  one  of  the  most  cultivated 
and  beautiful  women  of  the  time.  He  died  soon  after  the 
poet's  birth,  and  his  widow  and  children  removed  to  the 
large  estate  at  Mount  Pleasant,  which  he  had  purchased  a 
short  time  before  his  death.  Of  the  boyhood  of  Philip 
Freneau  there  is  little  known.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years 
he  entered  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  so  far  advanced  in 
Latin  that  the  acting  president  wrote  a  congratulatory  letter 
on  his  proficiency  to  his  mother. 

- 


I    N    r    R    0    D     U    C    T   I    0    N 

Breckenridge  and  Freneau  had  already  developed  a  taste 
for  poetry,  and  they  united  for  their  commencement  exer 
cise  in  the  composition  of  a  dialogue,  "  A  Poem  on  the 
Rising  Glory  of  America,"  which  they  pronounced  together, 
founding  in  animated  blank  verse  the  achievements  of  col 
onization  in  the  past,  and  the  visionary  grandeur  of  the 
empire  hereafter.  This  poem  was  published  in  Philadel 
phia  in  1772,  where  Freneau  went  to  reside  with  the  inten 
tion  of  studying  law,  but  owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  country,  his  mind  was  directed  into  other  channels. 

In  1774  he  went  to  New  York  City,  where  he  resided 
two  years,  writing  and  publishing  satirical  pieces  and  polit 
ical  burlesques,  ridiculing  the  King,  Royalists,  and  neutrals, 
and  gaining  great  popularity  for  himself,  and  many  con 
verts  to  Whig  principles. 

During  the  year  1776  he  embarked  for  the  West 
Indies  on  a  mercantile  venture.  He  remained  there  several 
months  where  he  wrote  two  of  his  best  poems,  "  The 
House  of  Night,"  and  "The  Beauties  of  Santa  Cruz."  He 
returned  in  1777,  and  after  a  short  stay  in  America  sailed 
for  Bermuda.  The  exact  length  of  time  he  spent  in  Ber 
muda  is  not  known,  but  in  1779  he  was  in  Philadelphia 
editing,  for  Francis  Baily,  The  United  States  Magazine. 
This  periodical  was  not  successful,  and  on  its  discontinu 
ance  he  again  turned  his  attention  to  the  sea.  Having 
obtained  letters  of  marque,  he  built  and  fitted  out  the 

[77] 


INTRODUCTION 

ship  Aurora,  at  Philadelphia,  which  soon  after  leaving  the 
waters  of  the  Delaware,  was  fired  upon  and  captured  by  a 
British  frigate.  In  "  Some  Account  of  the  Capture  of  the 
Ship  Aurora,"  which  has  never  before  been  published,  he 
has  given  a  vivid  account  of  the  capture  and  the  hardships 
and  indignities  he  was  subjected  to  while  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  the  British. 

A  hundred  and  nineteen  years  have  elapsed  since  it 
was  written  that  July  day,  1780,  by  the  poet  in  the  old 
Mount  Pleasant  home.  With  other  precious  manuscripts, 
including  a  letter  from  James  Madison,  the  President,  prais 
ing  Freneau's  genius ;  several  from  the  poet's  brother,  Peter 
Freneau,  known  to  fame  as  the  American  Addison,  and 
many  others  from  celebrated  people  of  that  day,  it  was 
bequeathed  by  the  poet  to  his  granddaughter,  Jane  Lead- 
beater.  Believing  it  would  interest  students  and  lovers  of 
American  history,  and  awaken  interest  in  the  greatest 
American  poet  and  writer  of  the  i8th  century,  her  heirs 
have  consented  to  its  publication. 

In  this  short  introduction,  which  is  but  a  brief  outline 
of  the  principal  events  in  his  career  until  the  year  1780,  I 
am  indebted  for  information  to  members  of  the  Freneau 
family,  and  have  also  borrowed  from  Freneau's  Memoirs, 
by  Evert  Duyckink  and  Rufus  Wilmot  Griswold. 

JAY   MILLES. 


y 


XK 


in 


Some  Account   of  the   Capture  of  the   Ship  Aurora 


;,  N  the  25th  of  May,  in  beat 
ing    down    Delaware    Bay, 
we      unfortunately     retook 
a     small     sloop     from    the 
refugees   loaded   with  corn, 
which     hindered    us    from 
standing    out     to    sea    that 
night,  whereby  in  all  proba 
bility  we    should  have    avoided    the    enemy   which 
afterward  captured  us. 


Friday  morning,  May  26.  The  air  very  smoky 
and  the  wind  somewhat  faintish,  though  it  after 
ward  freshened  up.  The  wind  was  so  that  we 
stood  off  E.  S.  E.  after  putting  the  pilot  on  board 
the  small  sloop,  handcuffing  the  prisoners,  and  send 
ing  the  prize  to  Cape  May.  About  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  we  discovered  three  sail  bearing 
from  us  about  E.  N.  E.  ;  they  were  not  more  than 
five  leagues  from  us  when  we  discovered  them  from 
the  foretop,  at  the  same  time  we  could  see  them 
from  the  quarter-deck.  One  appeared  to  be  a  pretty 

__ 


Some  Account   of   the   Capture   of  the   Ship  Aurora 

large  ship,  the  other  two,  brigs.  We  soon  found 
they  were  in  chase  of  us;  we  therefore  tacked  im 
mediately,  set  all  sail  we  could  crowd,  and  stood  back 
for  the  bay.  My  advice  to  the  officers  was  to  stand  for 
Egg  Harbor  or  any  part  of  the  Jersey  shore  and  run 
the  ship  on  the  flats  rather  than  be  taken  ;  but  this 
was  disregarded.  We  continued  to  stand  in  till  we 
saw  Cape  Henlopen ;  the  frigate,  in  the  mean  time, 
gaining  on  us  apace  ;  sun  about  half  an  hour  high. 
We  were  abreast  of  the  cape,  close  in,  when  the  wind 
took  us  aback,  and  immediately  after  we  were  be 
calmed  ;  the  ebb  of  tide  at  the  same  time  setting  very 
strong  out  of  the  bay  so  that  we  rather  drifted  out. 
Our  design  was,  if  possible,  to  get  within  the  road 
around  the  point,  and  there  run  the  ship  on  shore, 
but  want  of  wind  and  the  tide  being  against  us, 
hindered  from  putting  this  into  execution.  We  were 
now  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  shore.  The 
frigate  in  the  mean  time  ran  in  the  bay  to  leeward 
of  us  about  one-quarter  of  a  mile  (her  distance  from 
the  cape  hindering  it  from  becalming  her  as  it  did 
us),  and  began  to  bring  her  cannon  to  bear  on  us. 
Her  two  prizes  hove  to  ;  one  we  knew  to  be  the 

__ 


Some   Account   of   the    Capture  of   the   Ship   Aurora 

brig  Active,  Captain  Mesnard  ;  the  other,  as  we  after 
ward  learned,  was  a  Salem  brig  from  the  West  In 
dies.  The  frigate  was  the  Iris  returning  from 
Charleston  to  New  York  with  the  express  of  the 
former's  being  taken.  We  now  began  to  fire  upon 
each  other  at  the  distance  of  about  three  hundred  yards. 
The  frigate  hulled  us  several  times.  One  shot  went 
betwixt  wind  and  water,  which  made  the  ship  leak 
amazingly,  making  twenty-four  inches  in  thirty 
minutes.  We  found  our  four-pounders  but  were 
trifles  against  the  frigate,  so  we  got  our  nine-pounder, 
the  only  one  we  had,  pointed  from  the  cabin  win 
dows,  with  which  we  played  upon  the  frigate  for 
about  half  an  hour.  At  last  a  twelve-pound  shot 
came  from  the  frigate  and,  striking  a  parcel  of  oars 
lashed  upon  the  starboard  quarter,  broke  them  all  in 
two,  and  continuing  its  destructive  course  struck  Cap 
tain  Laboyteaux  in  the  right  thigh,  which  it  smashed 
to  atoms,  tearing  part  of  his  belly  open  at  the  same 
time  with  the  splinters  from  the  oars  ;  he  fell  from 
the  quarter  deck  close  by  me  and  for  some  time 
seemed  very  busily  engaged  in  setting  his  leg  to 
rights.  He  died  about  eleven  the  same  night  and 


Some  Account   of  the  Capture    of  the  Ship  Aurora, 

next  day  was  sewed  up  in  his  hammock  and  sunk. 
Every  shot  seemed  now  to  bring  ruin  with  it.  A 
lad  named  Steel  had  his  arm  broken  and  some  others 
complained  of  slight  wounds;  whereupon,  rinding 
the  frigate  ready  and  in  a  position  to  give  us  a  broad 
side,  we  struck,  after  having  held  a  very  unequal  con 
test  with  her  for  about  an  hour. 

During  the  engagement  six  or  seven  of  our  people 
hoisted  out  the  yawl  and  made  their  escape  to  the 
shore,  though  at  the  most  imminent  hazard  of  their 
lives,  as  we  afterward  learned  that  they  pointed  a 
twelve-pounder  at  her  from  the  frigate  and  were 
unanimously  for  sinking  her  except  Captain  Hawkes, 
whose  humanity  would  not  suffer  the  piece  to  be 
fired,  which  was  loaded  with  round  grape  shot.  As 
soon  as  we  struck,*one  Squires  with  some  midshipmen 
came  on  board  and  took  possession  of  the  vessel. 
Squires  was  prize  master.  They  had  six  sailors  with 
them.  I  informed  the  prize  master  I  was  a  passen 
ger  on  board  and  supposed  I  might  be  excused  from 
going  on  board  the  frigate  on  that  account.  He 
then  asked  me  several  questions,  where  I  was  going, 
etc.  I  satisfied  him  in  everything,  and  in  return 


Some  Account    of  the  Capture   of   the   Ship  Aurora 

was  assured  I  might  stay  on  board  our  own  vessel 
till  we  got  to  New  York,  where  he  said  he  did  not 
doubt  I  would  get  my  liberty  immediately.  This 
assurance  hindered  me  from  packing  up  anything  in 
my  chest  to  carry  with  me  on  board  the  frigate,  but 
when  the  barge  came  the  last  time  for  prisoners,  I 
was  cruelly  seized  and  driven  down  the  sides,  in 
the  sight  of  Squires,  into  the  barge,  among  the 
common  sailors,  and  could  not  even  get  liberty  to 
go  to  my  chest  to  put  on  anything,  so  that  I 
had  to  go  on  board  the  frigate  in  my  common  ship 
clothes. 

All  the  satisfaction  I  could  get  from  Squires  was  that 
I  should  have  my  chest  safe  and  sound  next  morning; 
he  also  swore  that  he  had  no  one  on  board  who  would 
meddle  with  it.  With  this  promise  I  was  obliged 
to  be  contented  and  went  on  board  the  frigate,  it  be 
ing  now  dark.  I  was  ranged  along  with  the  com 
mon  sailors  on  the  quarter-deck,  though  I  strongly 
remonstrated  against  it  to  the  master-at-arms,  who 
seemed  to  have  the  management  of  us. 
I  represented  to  him  that  I  was  a  passenger,  going 
on  my  private  business  to  the  islands,  and  insisted 


Some  Account   of  the   Capture   of  the   Ship   Aurora 

that  such  usage  was  cruel,  inhuman,  and  unjust.  He 
asked  me  if  I  was  not  a  colonist ;  I  told  him  I  was 
an  American;  then  said  he,  you  have  no  right  to 
expect  favors  more  than  others. 

The  list  of  us  was  now  taken,  and  we  were  ordered 
down  to  be  handcuffed,  two  and  two.  I  expected 
nothing  else  to  have  been  my  fate;  when  we  got  be 
tween  decks  I  thought  I  should  have  been  suffocated 
with  the  heat.  There  were  about  one  hundred 
prisoners  forward,  the  stench  of  whom  was  almost 
intolerable — so  many  melancholy  sights,  and  dismal 
countenances  made  it  a  pretty  just  representation  of 
the  infernal  region.  I  marched  through  a  torrent  of 
cursing  and  blasphemy  to  my  station,  viz.,  at  the 
blacksmith's  vice,  where  the  miserable  prisoners  were 
handcuffed  two  and  two.  At  last  it  came  my  turn. 
"  Pray,"  said  I,  "  is  it  your  custom  to  handcuff  passen 
gers?  The  Americans,  I  am  confident,  never  used 
the  English  so." 

"Are  you  a  passenger?"  said  the  blacksmith,  at  the 
same  time,  happening  to  look  up,  I  saw  Hugh  Ray 
looking  steadily  at  me,  who  immediately  seized  my 
hand,  and  asked  me  how  I  did. 


Some  Account  of  the   Capture   of  the   Ship   Aurora 

"Do  you  know  him?"  said  Holmes,  the  master-at- 
arms.  "  Then  you  are  free  from  irons ;  come  over 
among  the  gentlemen." 

This  was  an  unexpected  deliverance  from  a  cursed 
disgrace  which  I  hardly  knew  how  I  should  get 
clear  of.  After  this,  I  was  used  very  well  by  everybody. 
The  next  day  I  expected  my  chest  on  board  hourly, 
but  had  the  mortification  to  hear  nothing  of  it,  and 
was  suffered  to  come  on  deck  but  twice  about  five 
minutes  at  a  time  the  whole  day.  The  day  after, 
Squires  came  on  board  us,  and  I  took  that  opportu 
nity  to  renew  my  application  for  my  chest,  saying 
that  I  could  not  dress  myself  so  as  to  appear  decent 
for  the  want  of  it.  He  replied  that  I  must  wait  until 
we  got  to  New  York,  as  it  would  be  very  incon 
venient  to  hoist  the  boats  out  while  we  were  at  sea. 
Saturday  afternoon  we  entered  the  Hook,  and  Mon 
day,  about  twelve  o'clock,  anchored  in  the  North 
River.  Wednesday  all  the  prisoners  were  sent  from 
the  Iris  to  the  Prison-ship,  except  the  Captains,  Sur 
geons,  and  Passengers. 

Thursday,  Hulings,  the  Deputy  Commissary,  came 
on  board  and  took  us  on  shore  to  the  Commissary's 


Some  Account    of    the   Capture   of   the    Ship  Aurora 

office.  I  should  have  observed  that  before  this,  Cap 
tain  Sutton  told  me  that  Captain  Hawkes  had 
promised  him  I  should  have  my  liberty  to  go  where 
I  pleased,  so  that  I  had  no  expectation  of  going  on 
board  the  prison-ship.  I  was  much  surprised,  there 
fore,  at  the  commissary's  office,  when  I  was  denied 
even  a  parole,  especially  as  Captain  Hawkes  and  all 
his  officers  had  promised  me  repeatedly  that  at  least 
I  should  be  paroled  to  Long  Island  ;  but  Captain 
Sutton  afterward  informed  me  that  his  second  mate 
had  taken  upon  him  to  enroll  me  among  those  who 
were  stationed  at  the  guns,  and  he  believed  this  would 
be  some  detriment  to  me.  I  answered  him  that  as 
he  had  been  exact  enough  with  regard  to  my  paying 
my  passage,  he  should  have  seen  that  I  was  not  put 
in  any  of  their  enrollments,  and  added,  with  a  good 
deal  of  resentment,  that  I  wished  that  I  had  never 
seen  the  ships,  and  immediately  walked  away.  To 
return  :  At  the  commissary's  office,  as  I  saw  before, 
Captain  Maynard  and  myself  were  refused  our  paroles. 
Hulings  told  me  that  the  Americans  so  generally  dis 
regarded  their  paroles  that  they  must  take  care  who 
they  trusted  for  the  future.  I  told  him  if  he  would 

[29] 


Some  Account   of  the    Capture  of  the  Ship    Aurora 

suffer  me  to  go  with  the  guard  to  a  friend  of  mine 
in  town  I  would  get  them  security  even  to  ^10,000, 
that  I  would  stay  within  the  limits  of  my  parole  till 
I  was  exchanged.  He  refused  letting  me  go  any 
where,  only  he  said  if  I  would  write  a  letter  he 
would  take  it  from  me  the  next  day  and  deliver  it  to 
Mr.  Gardner.  I  had  writ  Mr.  Gardner  from  the 
Iris,  by  a  person  who  I  am  sure  delivered  the  letter ; 
but  I  received  no  answer.  After  this,  viz.,  on  Thurs 
day,  June  i,  Captain  Maynard  and  myself  were  con 
ducted  on  board  the  Scorpion  prison-ship,  lying  off 
the  college  in  the  North  River.  At  sundown  we 
were  ordered  down  between  the  decks  to  the  num 
ber  of  nearly  three  hundred  of  us.  The  best  lodg 
ing  I  could  procure  this  night  was  on  a  chest,  almost 
suffocated  with  the  heat  and  stench.  I  expected  to 
die  before  morning,  but  human  nature  can  bear  more 
than  one  would  at  first  suppose.  The  want  of  bed 
ding  and  the  loss  of  all  my  clothes  rendered  me 
wretched  indeed  ;  besides  the  uncertainty  of  being  ex 
changed,  for  who  could  assure  me  that  I  should  not 
lie  six  or  eight  months  in  this  horrid  prison  ?  One, 
Gauzoo,  was  steward  of  the  ship — one  of  the  most 

-  _ 


Some  Account  of   the    Capture    of   the   Ship   Aurora, 

brutal  of  mankind,  who  abused  us  continually.  It  is 
impossible  for  words  to  give  his  character ;  it  seemed 
as  though  lie  could  not  give  any  of  us  a  civil  word 
upon  the  most  indifferent  occasion.  When  he  was 
not  cursing  us,  he  kept  in  his  cabin  in  gloomy  re 
serve,  the  most  vile  and  detestable  of  mortals. 
June  3d.  About  midnight  the  weather  was  very 
stormy  and  the  river  uncommonly  rough.  The  ship 
rolled  considerably,  and  the  water  gushed  into  some 
of  the  lower  ports,  which  made  some  of  the  lands 
men  who  slept  in  the  cable  tier  imagine  she  was 
sinking.  In  a  moment  the  alarm  became  general. 
"  The  ship  is  sinking  !  the  ship  is  sinking !"  was  echoed 
fore  and  aft.  I  expected  every  moment  to  feel  my 
self  afloat  in  the  berth  where  I  lay  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  considering  it  would  be  a  folly  to  drown  be 
tween  decks  when  I  might  perhaps  get  on  shore  some 
how,  I  jumped  up  and  hurried  toward  the  main  hatch 
way,  where  a  multitude  was  endeavoring  to  get  out; 
the  sentries  at  the  same  time  beating  on  their  heads 
with  their  drawn  swords  and  marquets  without 
mercy,  imagining  the  whole  to  be  a  scheme  of  our 
insurrection.  Some  lamented  that  they  should  never 

~~~~  [33] 


Some  Account  of  the   Capture    of  the  Ship   Aurora 

see  their  wives  and  children  again ;  others  begged  by 
the  love  of  God  to  be  let  upon  deck  and  they  would 
bind  themselves  slaves  forever  on  board  a  man-of-war, 
or  any  other  service.  There  was  an  Italian  gunner 
who  prayed  to  St.  Anthony  most  heartily,  and  de 
sired  the  prayers  of  his  holy  father,  the  Pope,  in 
case  he  should  be  drowned.  To  such  ridiculous  dis 
tress  does  the  fear  of  death  reduce  the  generality  of 
mankind  when  they  apprehend  it  to  be  nigh.  After 
some  trouble  we  got  a  light,  and  examining  the 
pump-well,  found  the  ship  dry  and  tight.  The  mis 
take  of  the  water  coming  in  the  port  was  soon  de 
tected,  and  the  same  shut  and  caulked.  Indeed,  it 
was  a  dismal  night.  But  upon  the  next  night  we 
were  doomed  to  experience  more  real  danger.  About 
thirty-five  of  our  people  formed  a  design  of  making 
their  escape,  in  which  they  were  favored  by  a  large 
schooner  accidentally  alongside  of  us.  She  was  one 
that  was  destined  for  the  expedition  to  Elizabeth 
Town,  and  anchored  just  astern  of  us.  We  were  then 
suffered  to  continue  upon  deck,  if  we  chose,  till  nine 
o'clock.  We  were  all  below  by  that  time  except 
the  insurgents,  who  rushed  upon  the  sentries  and  dis- 

[35] 


Some  Account   of   the    Capture  of  the  Ship    Aurora 

armed  them  in  a  moment ;  one  they  tied  by  his  neck 
stock  to  the  quarter  rails,  and  carried  off  his  marquet 
with  them  (they  were  all  Hessians),  the  rest  they 
drove  down  with  their  arms  into  the  cabin,  and 
rammed  the  sentry-box  down  the  companion  in  such 
a  manner  that  no  one  could  get  up  or  down.  One, 
Murphy,  possessed  himself  of  Gauzoo's  silver-hiked 
sword,  and  carried  it  off  with  him.  When  the  sen 
tries  were  all  silent  they  manned  the  ship's  boat  and 
boarded  the  schooner,  though  the  people  on  board 
attempted  to  keep  them  off  with  hand-spikes.  The 
wind  blowing  fresh  at  south  and  the  flood  of  tide 
being  made,  they  hoisted  sail  and  were  out  of  sight 
in  a  few  minutes.  These  particulars  we  learned  from 
some  who  were  on  duty,  but  were  unsuccessful  in 
getting  into  the  boat.  As  soon  as  the  sentries  got 
possession  of  the  vessel  again,  which  they  had  no 
difficulty  in  doing,  as  there  was  no  resistance  made, 
they  posted  themselves  at  each  hatchway,  and  most 
basely  and  cowardly  fired  fore  and  aft  among  us,  pis 
tols  and  marquets  for  a  full  quarter  of  an  hour  with 
out  intermission.  By  the  mercy  of  God,  they 
touched  but  four,  one  mortally ;  another  had  his 

__      _ __         _ 


Some  Account    of    the   Capture   of   the   Ship  Aurora 

great  toe  shot  off,  the  other  two  slightly.  I  believe 
they  meant  by  this  piece  of  cruelty  to  atone  to  their 
masters  for  their  being  disarmed  in  the  manner  they 
were.  The  next  morning  the  Deputy  Commissary 
came  on  board  to  muster  the  company  to  see  who 
was  missing.  All  that  were  found  wounded  were 
put  in  irons  and  ordered  to  lie  upon  deck,  exposed 
to  the  burning  sun.  About  four  o'clock  P.M.,  one 
of  the  poor  fellows  who  had  been  wounded  the  night 
before  died.  They  then  took  him  out  of  irons, 
sent  him  on  shore,  and  buried  him.  After  this  no 
usage  seemed  to  them  severe  enough  for  us.  We  had 
water  given  us  to  drink  that  a  dog  could  scarcely 
relish ;  it  was  thick  and  clammy  and  had  a  dismal 
smell.  They  withdrew  our  allowance  of  rum,  and 
drove  us  down  every  night  strictly  at  sunset,  where 
we  suffered  inexpressibly  till  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  gratings  being  rarely  opened  before  that 
time.  Thus  did  I  live  with  my  miserable  companions 
till  the  22d  of  June.  When  finding  myself  taken  with 
a  fever,  I  procured  myself  to  be  put  on  the  sick  list, 
and  the  same  day  was  sent  with  a  number  of  others 
to  the  Hunter  hospital-ship,  lying  in  the  East  River. 

[39] 


Some  Account   of   the   Capture   of  the   Ship  Aurora 

Here  was  a  new  scene  opened.  The  Hunter  had 
been  very  newly  put  to  the  use  of  a  hospital-ship. 
She  was  miserably  dirty  and  cluttered.  Her  decks 
leaked  to  such  a  degree  that  the  sick  were  deluged 
with  every  shower  of  rain.  Between  decks  they  lay 
along  struggling  in  the  agonies  of  death  ;  dying  with 
putrid  and  bilious  fevers;  lamenting  their  hard  fate 
to  die  at  such  a  fatal  distance  from  their  friends ; 
others  totally  insensible,  and  yielding  their  last  breath 
in  all  the  horrors  of  light-headed  frenzy. 
I  cannot  forebear  quoting  a  few  lines  from  Milton 
(Lib  XL,  480):- 

"  Immediately  a  place 

Before  his  eyes  appear'd,  sad,  noisome,  dark ; 
A  lazar-house  it  seem'd ;  wherein  were  laid 
Numbers  of  all  diseased  ;  all  maladies 
Of  ghastly  spasm,  or  racking  torture,  qualms 
Of  heart-sick  agony,  all  feverous  kinds, 
Convulsions,  epilepsies,  fierce  catarrhs, 
Intestine  stone  and  ulcer,  cholic  pangs, 
Demoniac  frenzy,  moping  melancholy, 
And  moon-struck  madness,  pining  atrophy, 
Marasmus,  and  wide-wasting  pestilence, 
Dropsies,  and  asthmas,  and  joint-racking  rheums. 
Dire  was  the  tossing,  deep  the  groans  ;    Despair 
Tended  the  sick,"  etc. 

_ 


Some   Account   of  the   Capture  of   the  Ship  Aurora 

Our  allowance  in  the  Hunter,  to  those  upon  full  diet, 
was  one  pound  of  bread  and  one  pound  of  fresh  beef 
per  diem  ;  to  those  upon  half  diet,  one  pound  of 
bread  and  one-half  pound  of  beef  or  mutton  per 
diem.  Every  other  day  we  had  a  cask  of  spruce  beer 
sent  on  board.  Our  fresh  beef  was  generally  heads 
or  shanks,  and  would  just  answer  to  make  soup.  A 
German  doctor  attended  every  morning  at  eight 
o'clock  and  administered  such  remedies  as  were  thought 
proper.  Thus  things  went  on,  two  or  three  dy 
ing  every  day,  who  were  carried  on  shore  and  buried 
in  the  bank,  till  three  of  our  crew,  who  had  got 
pretty  hearty,  stole  the  boat  one  night  and  made 
their  escape.  This  occasioned  new  trouble.  The 
doctor  refused  to  come  on  board,  and  as  he  rowed 
past  us  next  morning  to  see  somebody  in  the  Jersey, 
which  lay  near  us,  some  of  the  sick  calling  to  him 
for  blisters,  he  told  them  to  put  tar  on  their  backs, 
which  would  serve  as  well  as  anything,  and  so  rowed 
away.  However,  after  two  or  three  days  his  wrath 
was  appeased,  and  he  deigned  to  come  on  board  again. 
By  this  time,  being  about  the  6th  or  7th  of  July,  in 
spite  of  all  the  remedies  I  had  taken,  I  found  my 


Some  Account    of   the   Capture    of    the   Ship  Aurora 

fever  increasing  ;  however,  it  continued  to  be  the  re 
mittent  kind  ;  had  it  turned  to  putrid,  as  it  did  with 
numbers,  in  all  probability  I  must  have  died  as  well  as 
the  rest.  I  had  a  large  blister  put  on  my  back  which 
helped  me  amazingly. 

At  length,  on  the  i  2th  of  July,  the  flag  came  along 
side  and  cleared  the  hospital-ship.  But  the  miseries 
we  endured  in  getting  to  Elizabeth  Town  were  many. 
Those  that  were  very  bad,  of  which  the  proportion 
was  great,  naturally  took  possession  of  the  hold.  No 
prisoner  was  allowed  to  go  in  the  cabin,  so  that  I 
with  twenty  or  thirty  others  were  obliged  to  sleep 
out  all  the  night,  which  was  uncommonly  cold  for 
the  season.  About  ten  next  morning  we  arrived  at 
Elizabeth  Town  Point,  where  we  were  kept  in  the 
burning  sun  several  hours,  till  the  Commissary  came 
to  discharge  us. 

I  was  afflicted  with  such  pains  in  my  joints,  I  could 
scarcely  walk,  and  besides,  was  weakened  with  a  rag 
ing  fever;  nevertheless,  I  walked  the  two  miles  to 
Elizabeth  Town  ;  here  I  got  a  passage  in  a  wagon 
to  within  a  mile  of  Crow's  Ferry,  which  I  walked; 
got  a  passage  over  the  ferry  and  walked  on  as  far  as 

_____       __         _ 


Some  Account    of   the   Capture    of    the   Ship  Aurora 

Molly  Budleigh's,  where  I  stayed  all  night.  Next 
morning,  having  breakfasted  on  some  bread  and  milk, 
I  set  homeward;  when  I  came  to  Obadiah  Budleigh's 
corner  I  turned  to  the  right  and  came  home  round 
about  through  the  woods  for  fear  of  terrifying  the 
neighbors  with  my  ghastly  looks  had  I  gone  thro 
Mount  Pleasant. — July  14,  1780. 
I  forgot  to  mention  that  as  soon  as  we  came  to  New 
York  and  things  were  a  little  adjusted,  Mr.  Chat 
ham,  our  first  mate,  went  on  board  the  Aurora  and 
found  his  desk  with  mine  and  several  other  books 
open  and  everything  taken  out ;  so  much  for  English 
honor  and  honesty. 

N.  B. — Wrote  a  letter  by  Hulings  to  Mr.  G.-  — , 
but  received  no  answer.  Two  days  before  I  was  ex 
changed  got  a  letter  from  Mr.  G.—  — ,  offering  me 
anything  I  wanted,  pretending  he  did  not  know 
what  ship  I  was  in.  I  returned  him  a  letter  of  thanks, 
letting  him  know  that  if  he  could  get  me  a  parole, 
it  would  be  the  greatest  favor  he  could  do  me. 
The  same  day  Mr.  Robins  came  alongside  in  a  small 
boat  with  fish,  offering  me  what  money  I  wanted. 
I  begged  him  to  lay  the  money  out  in  wine,  oranges, 


Some   Account   of  the    Capture  of   the  Ship  Aurora 

and  lemons,  and  send  them  to  me.  He  promised 
to  be  alongside  in  three  hours  but  I  never  saw  him 
afterward;  in  short,  I  met]  with  nothing  but  disap 
pointment  among  this  people,  and  cannot  sufficiently 
congratulate  myself  upon  having  got  from  among 
them. 


Sir :  —  I  take  this  opportunity  to  inform  you  that 
instead  of  arriving  as  I  fondly  promised  myself  at  the 
fragrant  groves  and  delectable  Plains  of  Santa  Cruz, 
to  enjoy  the  fruits  and  flowers  of  that  happy  clime, 
I  was  unfortunately  taken  and  confined  on  board  a 
Prison  Ship  at  New  York,  and  afterwards  in  a  Hos 
pital  ship  where  the  damnable  draughts  of  a  German 
Doctor  afforded  far  different  feelings  to  my  Stomach 
than  the  juice  of  the  Orange  or  more  nourishing 
milk  of  the  cocoa. 


[49J 


LOAN  DEPT. 


^^ " 


-, 
(B6221sl0)476B 


O, 

X 


YC  50424 


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